Last week, finance professionals pitched their deals to a panel of lenders at London Property Professional’s (LPP) the ‘Enter the Deal room’ event.

Each panel member described their business and then deals were pitched to them from the audience.

The panel included: Jim Nash, Omni Capital; James Bloom, Regentsmead; Andy Veares, Metro Bank; Sean Mcmanus, Handelsbanken; Robert Heywood, Bridgebank.

A scoring system was used as a comical gesture in line with which lenders managed to grab a deal.  James Bloom, CEO at Regentsmead Limited, managed to grab a deal early on in the event.

Broker, Amanda De Courcy, pitched a deal based on a property in Hungerford for £450,000, James responded with a simple " Yes".

He explained: "I could say yes straight away because Regentsmead lend their own funds. So when we get a “Regentsmead” deal in they immediately say yes given we know exactly what we are looking for and there is no red tape to overcome.”

Audience member who pitched a deal at the event and Director at development firm Di-Mot Ltd, Chintu Shah said:  "Great event and a good panel. Gave a true reflection on what is happening and available in the market place."

Sean McManus said in his explanation of the oldest company in the Swedish stock exchange, Handelsbanken, that the bank is not a volume player, its employees have no targets and no bonuses.

Sean continued, as Europe’s number one bank, Handelsbanken’s job lies solely in providing for the client’s interests and not being motivated by personal financial agendas.  When it comes to clients, Sean McManus said: “Long term relationships are absolutely key. We really do look for long enduring relationships”
 
Andy Vears, Head of Corporate Banking at Metro Bank agreed on the importance of long enduring relationships with clients. He added: “I thought it was very interesting that on no single deal did all the panel say they would provide finance, but that we all had our preferences as to what we would rather do. So you have to get the correct lender for you and your property, and that unlike the past, there is no one company which will be able to finance all of your property needs.”

"All in all, it gave me confidence that if a Business has a sound project, they will be able to find finance in London. Finally I want to thank all those businesses who have followed up with myself at Metro Bank since the Deal Room event and there are some great opportunities which we will look to progress.”

LPP is London's recently-launched, deal-focused property networking group and is part of the fast-growing UK Property Professionals (UKPP) network.

Mark Antscherl, Founder and Chief Executive of UKPP, said: “Last week's Enter the Deal Room event was extremely well received by both the Funding Panel and the audience. We are seeing more and more deal flow through these events and also through our online platform, www.ukdealroom.com.”

“Our focus is to continue to deliver these funding events and further enhance the functionality of our online activities, giving UKPP members access to an ever-growing range of funding solutions.”

The UKPP network, which is Edinburgh based, specialises in the development of city-specific property networking groups. Their aim is to increase communication and collaboration between all property professionals throughout the UK.